Ok I think Im going to throttle Toria's rat. We have two of them in the cage hers and mine. When we first got the cage there where two ceramic bowls to hold food and oatmeal. Well one of the rats (I didnt know who at this point) kept tipping them over the edge. So I baught a bird feeder thing with hooks in the back so I could hook it to the wall and she cant dump it. Well I dont know how but the little shit still found a way to dump it. So I baught one that screwed into the wall thinking the waste of food would be done with that. I caught the little shit digging the food out of the bowl since she couldnt dump it!

UUGGHHHHH So after thinking about it I think she is boared. She has a rat friend in there with her and chew toys and toilet paper rolls to shred and for whatever reason she enjoys tipping the rat house upside down.

Please give me ideas for toys or entertainment for her??? Toria plays with her alot through out the day especially now that school is out but she does all this at night when we are trying to sleep.

Does anyone have ideas on ways to either get her to sleep at night or more toy ideas??

halfwaynowhere

June 18th, 2008, 05:40 PM

The Dapper Rat site has tons of ideas for rat toys... here: http://www.dapper.com.au/toys.htm

WickedBttrfly

June 18th, 2008, 05:46 PM

Certain bird toys are good too. You know, the wooden and rope ones? My Max has a habit of putting all his smaller toys into his food bowl when he's not playing with them. He is a very tidy rat. :giggle:

SphinYote

June 18th, 2008, 05:49 PM

First you might want to check what she's eating and what she's digging out (if the food is a mix....if its just all the same kind of pellets though then ignore this....;)) If its a variety mix of food, she may be digging for the food she prefers.

Toys....I've never had rats, but be careful with the TP rolls, they...er...stopped up one of my guinea pigs and he required surgery, apparently that's a very common problem with guinea pigs (don't know about rats).....

might try thread spools (sans thread). I'm trying to think of things that would be harmless and easily acquired for free--coffee tins? Might rust if you leave them in too long, could be an occasional "variety" toy....

Thick twigs from trees? Round off the ends and it should be fine, though I don't know if splintering would be a problem--may want to see what others say on this one.

Very temporary and watch carefully--plastic food containers (longer if the plastic is sturdy and they can't gnaw through it and eat pieces....).

Just a few random thoughts. Am sleepy, so not very thorough thoughts in terms of potential hazards....good luck.

Willow Rosette

June 18th, 2008, 05:49 PM

halfway Im on my way there now.

WickedBttrfly the pet store said not to give them bird toys because of the bells. They would swallow them and choke.

WickedBttrfly

June 18th, 2008, 05:52 PM

Ooops I forgot to mention that part!!! I'm sorry. >< There are ones without bells or you can just remove the bells. :p

Willow Rosette

June 18th, 2008, 05:57 PM

halfway I love the peas idea and the hammock!

halfwaynowhere

June 18th, 2008, 05:57 PM

My rats empty out their food dish the minute I fill it up... they take the food out, piece by piece, and carry it down into their respective hides. For awhile I was trying to fight it, and kept picking it back up and putting it in their dish, hoping they would learn that it belonged in there, but I gave up.

halfwaynowhere

June 18th, 2008, 05:59 PM

halfway I love the peas idea and the hammock!

My SIL does the pea thing with her girls in the summer time, its a great way to help them cool off when its hot... i'm gonna try that with my boys soon... it looks like a lot of fun... I've seen a few "pea diving" videos on youtube...

Willow Rosette

June 18th, 2008, 06:50 PM

The girls have a wire bottom. And I try to put enough shavings underneith that it comes up the wires to givem a softer place to walk on I still dont want all their food down on the tray below where they cant get to it.

We found a neat thing Torias rat enjoys. Every week when I clean out cages I take the piggy out to the grass to let him munc and then while he is there I clean the rat cage. Well one day we let Torias rat run around. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen. I was sitting with the piggy and Toria walked Arrora to the other side of the grass and I hollered for her. The grass was kinda high so she would come running back jumping over the grass. She did this over and over till we couldnt walk her back because we were laughing to hard. As soon as I have batteries for the camera I will take some pictures. It was the funnies thing I have ever seen her do.

Bettie

June 19th, 2008, 01:07 AM

My ratters love bird toys, but only the big, chunky kind that you get for bigger birds, parrots and cocatiels etc. Those lil' budgie-size toys are no good, and, as already mentioned, the bells are unsafe. My girls also love cut-out Pringles tubes, and another favourite is to buy a cheap box of tissues, open it up and just let them go at it. My two are ecstatic to be allowed free run at a box of tissues, they climb in and out, pull the tissues all over the place, they have an absolute blast and it's hilarious to watch, too. :)

Willow Rosette

June 19th, 2008, 01:30 AM

Where do you put them when they are playing? I dont think I could get a tissue box in their cage and I sure cant let them run free and play in the house. In our bedroom are my 2 cats and way to many hiding places and the rest of the house has 3 dogs. But I do like the idea of sewing the hammocks for them, and the one of using the toilet as paper machet to make a house out of a balloon. Toria would have tons of fun with that one too.

Bettie

June 19th, 2008, 01:44 AM

I let my ratters play in the bathroom - there's no cords or furniture for them to chew, and any 'accidents' can be cleaned up easily. If you have a toilet in there, make sure the lid is down, though! I've tried various fenced-off options in other parts of the house, but they're too good at jumping over. At least in the bathroom I can shut the door and they just run wild all over the place, they have a great time. :)

Willow Rosette

June 19th, 2008, 03:09 AM

We could do it in the bath tub. But the bathroom door doesnt close tight so the dogs pop it open to get to the toilets. But for some fun free time they could play in the bath tub.

mephistopheles

June 19th, 2008, 03:59 PM

Do they still make those large plastic rodent exercise balls? I had one for my hamster and aside from nearly going down the stairs a few times, it was great and kept him occupied for ages :p

Willow Rosette

June 20th, 2008, 03:28 AM

For some reason my rats just sit there and do nothing when they are in the ball LOL

mephistopheles

June 20th, 2008, 03:02 PM

For some reason my rats just sit there and do nothing when they are in the ball LOL

I'd be tempted to roll it bowling style down the hallway to see what happened :lol:

Willow Rosette

June 20th, 2008, 04:15 PM

I'd be tempted to roll it bowling style down the hallway to see what happened :lol:

LOL I did worry for awhile that the cats would do that :lol:

Willow Rosette

June 21st, 2008, 10:44 PM

That thread that halfway posted said I could give the rats chicken bones. Is this for real? Has anyone else done it? I have a huge box of chicken from a friends wedding and if it was true I figured it would make them happy.

mephistopheles

June 22nd, 2008, 07:22 PM

That thread that halfway posted said I could give the rats chicken bones. Is this for real? Has anyone else done it? I have a huge box of chicken from a friends wedding and if it was true I figured it would make them happy.

I havent given it to them yet but I was kinda suprised to read that and was hoping it would be something to occupy that noisy little girl.

mephistopheles

June 22nd, 2008, 10:30 PM

I havent given it to them yet but I was kinda suprised to read that and was hoping it would be something to occupy that noisy little girl.

They tend to splinter and break apart, I wouldn't risk it. I'd definitely try the plastic ball and let the cats play too :lol:

Willow Rosette

June 22nd, 2008, 11:19 PM

I just moved so the ball is lost in storage right now. But I think this week we will make them a hammock and maybe a toiletpaper house like they show in the link.

mephistopheles

June 23rd, 2008, 12:35 AM

Bet they'll love it! If you just moved and have extra boxes, I'm sure cutting holes in the boxes and letting the ratties run around and play in them would tire them out.

Willow Rosette

June 23rd, 2008, 01:13 AM

I thought about that but my two cats are in the bedroom with us and then in the rest of the house there are three other dogs. If we are holding the rats my cats wont mess with them but if they were loose I dont know what my cats would do.

mephistopheles

June 23rd, 2008, 12:15 PM

Put them in another room? I dunno. I didn't have an indoor cat when I had my rodents :p

Willow Rosette

June 23rd, 2008, 01:30 PM

I was talking to Bettie about it and the only place I can think of to put them where they might be safe is the bath tub LOL. But that seems to work for them. The favorite is still running through the grass though.